La seriedad que ha dominado la lectura de la obra de Platón en nuestra tradición no es ajena al temprano protagonismo que adquirió la interpretación neoplatónica de la obra del filósofo ni a la importante presencia que el neoplatonismo adquirió en el largo proceso de elaboración doctrinal del cristianismo a partir del siglo II. Este olvido del recurso al humor condicionaría con frecuencia y de modo significativo la recta comprensión de los diálogos. Al leer la obra de Platón, descubrimos, por (...) otro lado, que el recurso al humor no se reduce a la muy comentada ironía socrática, sino que encontramos también bromas entre los personajes, juegos de palabras, imitaciones paródicas de hombres ilustres, chascarrillos graciosos, burlas y comedia de situaciones; encontramos, en resumen, un extenso y variado repertorio de recursos cómicos puestos al servicio de la eficaz transmisión de contenidos serios. Porque, no lo olvidemos, el humor en Platón está sometido a la expresión eficaz de lo que el filósofo entiende que debe ser tanto el modo de transmisión filosófica como los propios contenidos filosóficos. Con la intención de descifrar las claves que permitan comprender mejor el uso de los recursos humorísticos en los diálogos platónicos presentamos este volumen colectivo en el que once autores abordan distintos aspectos de la cuestión. (shrink)

What does it mean to be disadvantaged? Is it possible to compare different disadvantages? What should governments do to move their societies in the direction of equality, where equality is to be understood both in distributional and social terms? Linking rigorous analytical philosophical theory with broad empirical studies, including interviews conducted for the purpose of this book, Wolff and de-Shalit show how taking theory and practice together is essential if the theory is to be rich enough to be applied to (...) the real world, and policy systematic enough to have purpose and justification. The book is in three parts. Part 1 presents a pluralist analysis of disadvantage, modifying the capability theory of Sen and Nussbaum to produce the 'genuine opportunity for secure functioning' view. This emphasises risk and insecurity as a central component of disadvantage. Part 2 shows how to identify the least advantaged in society even on a pluralist view. The authors suggest that disadvantage 'clusters' in the sense that some people are disadvantaged in several different respects. Thus identifying the least advantaged is not as problematic as it appears to be. Conversely, a society which has 'declustered disadvantaged' - in the sense that no group lacks secure functioning on a range of functionings - has made considerable progress in the direction of equality. Part 3 explores how to decluster disadvantage, by paying special attention to 'corrosive disadvantages' - those disadvantages which cause further disadvantages - and 'fertile functionings' - those which are likely to secure other functionings. In sum this books presents a refreshing new analysis of disadvantage, and puts forward proposals to help governments improve the lives of the least advantaged in their societies, thereby moving in the direction of equality. (shrink)

In Direct Belief I argue for the Theory of Direct Belief, which treats having a belief about an individual as an unmediated relation between the believer and the individual the belief is about. After a critical review of alternative positions, I use Grice’s theory of conversational implicature to provide a detailed pragmatic account of substitution failure in belief ascriptions and go on to defend this view against objections, including those based on an unwarranted “Inner Speech” Picture of Thought. The work (...) serves as a case study in pragmatic explanation, dealing also with methodological issues about context-sensitivity in language and the relation between semantics and pragmatics. (shrink)

A exposição ou enjeitamento de crianças foi fenômeno importado do velho mundo e amplamente aceito e praticado em território ibero-americano. A historiografia avançou sobre o tema nos últimos anos, entretanto, algumas lacunas ainda permanecem para desafio dos historiadores interessados no assunto. Uma dessas questões é detectar as singularidades regionais desse fenômeno tão recorrente ao território luso-brasileiro. Nesse sentido, o objetivo deste artigo é comparar o perfil da exposição de crianças e a assistência aos enjeitados em dois extremos da América portuguesa: (...) a freguesia de Porto Alegre em devoção a Nossa Senhora Madre de Deus no Rio Grande do Sul, e a freguesia da Cidade do Natal em devoção a Nossa Senhora da Apresentação no Rio Grande do Norte. A partir de fontes seriais, como os registros de batismo e os termos de vereação das respectivas localidades, elencamos os seguintes procedimentos para análise – leitura, transcrição e fichamentos qualitativos e quantitativos, seguidos da comparação de aspectos demográficos que podem nos trazer realidades adversas. Sendo assim, esse esforço de pesquisa resultou na identificação de baixos índices de exposição, elevadas taxas de filhos ilegítimos e formas distintas de assistência aos recém-nascidos enjeitados estritamente ligados aos seus contextos locais. (shrink)

Peter de Rivo (b. ca. 1420), argues for the existence of human freedom despite its alleged incompatibility with the truth of future contingent propositions. Rivo’s solution doesn’t follow the common medieval attempt to dissolve the alleged incompatibility, but claims that future contingent propositions aren’t determinately true. This approach troubled Rivo’s contemporaries, who thought it was incompatible with biblical infallibility, particularly the veracity of prophetic statements. Rivo tries to reconcile his solution with orthodox Christianity by grounding authentic prophetic statements in God’s (...) cognition of future events. In the end, Rivo’s attempted reconciliation fails because grounding the truth of prophetic statements in God cognition is incompatible either with his theological assumptions or his conception of free action. (shrink)

Recent scientific research has settled on a purely descriptive definition of happiness that is focused solely on agents’ psychological states (high positive affect, low negative affect, high life satisfaction). In contrast to this understanding, recent research has suggested that the ordinary concept of happiness is also sensitive to the moral value of agents’ lives. Five studies systematically investigate and explain the impact of morality on ordinary assessments of happiness. Study 1 demonstrates that moral judgments influence assessments of happiness not only (...) for untrained participants, but also for academic researchers and even in those who study happiness specifically. Studies 2 and 3 then respectively ask whether this effect may be explained by general motivational biases or beliefs in a just world. In both cases, we find evidence against these explanations. Study 4 shows that the impact of moral judgments cannot be explained by changes in the perception of descriptive psychological states. Finally, Study 5 compares the impact of moral and non-moral value, and provides evidence that unlike non-moral value, moral value is part of the criteria that govern the ordinary concept of happiness. Taken together, these studies provide a specific explanation of how and why the ordinary concept of happiness deviates from the definition used by researchers studying happiness. (shrink)

This paper responds to the commentaries from Stacy Carter and Alan Cribb. We pick up on two main themes in our response. First, we reflect on how the process of setting standards for empirical bioethics research entails drawing boundaries around what research counts as empirical bioethics research, and we discuss whether the standards agreed in the consensus process draw these boundaries correctly. Second, we expand on the discussion in the original paper of the role and significance of the concept of (...) ‘integrating’ empirical methods and ethical argument as a standard for research practice within empirical bioethics. (shrink)

‘De meeste ideeën van Spinoza waren in zijn dagen zeer impopulair, maar dat is inderdaad wel veranderd. Een van zijn karakteristieke ideeën staat echter haaks op onze manier van denken en blijft waarschijnlijk nog lang ongeliefd, namelijk de stelling dat wij erop moeten vertrouwen dat een kleine minderheid, een filosofisch ontwikkelde minderheid namens iedereen geïnformeerd blijft, onze toestand beoordeelt en waakzaam is, een intellectuele avant-garde die zich wil uitspreken om de vrijheid en de gelijke rechten van de rest van de (...) samenleving te beschermen.’. (shrink)

This article examines the historical representation of the Jinshin Rebellion as a foundational event in the Nihon shoki and other eighth-century Japanese texts. Focusing on the differences between two alternative stories of Tenmu’s departure from the Ōmi capital to Yoshino, I argue that the Nihon shoki contains traces of several competing historical narratives that are the expression of a historical process: the political struggles over the historical record and the representation of Tenmu’s legitimacy in the early eighth century when the (...) Nihon shoki was being compiled. (shrink)

The first part of this paper contextualizes the debate on the ethical regulation of Artificial Intelligence, and then reviews the main Anglo-Eurocentric elements of public initiatives about the ‘Ethics of AI’ that have recently emerged. All this with the ultimate purpose of analyzing the basis of principlism of the Ethics of AI. We refer to this with the specific purpose of presenting it in terms of a paradigmatic case of ‘colonized’ ethics that hides the different moral judgments and the alternative (...) cultural axiologies. We begin with the hypothesis that there is a possibility of questioning the real purpose and contribution of this applied ethics, using a dilemmatic perspective specific to human and legal sciences. In order to execute this type of analysis, which is highly required to understand what the future of these proposals is and how it can affect the regulation of AI, an analysis related to the contemporary literature from the Decoloniality field will be performed. (shrink)

Depuis plusieurs années, Michel Onfray s'offre tous les plateaux télé, la radio et la presse pour dire qu'il est un contestataire et un rebelle. Les médias lui offrent des colonnes et des boulevards et il est régulièrement sollicité pour livrer son avis sur les gens, le monde, la politique, les faits de société. Il réalise l'acrobatie étonnante d'être un incontournable du système médiatique et commercial tout en prétendant combattre ce système. Ce livre a pour objet de disséquer, d'analyser et de (...) démontrer le mythe Onfray, une fable médiatique créée de toutes pièces par une industrie bien huilée qui avait besoin qu'un prétendant occupe le siège vacant de l'intellectuel de service. Mission accomplie. Mais Michel Onfray est-il le philosophe de génie que nous vendent les médias? Est-il un intellectuel crédible? En réalité sa vision du monde est binaire, schématique ; son rapport à l'Histoire sans nuance et ce qu'il prend pour la construction d'une pensée philosophique solide ressemble davantage à une crise d'adolescence qui n'a jamais fini. Sa critique politique est simpliste, sans surprise, totalement conforme aux dogmes du prêt-à-penser moderne. Les contradictions, les non-sens et les banalités abondent dans une oeuvre littéraire creuse et répétitive. Ce livre explore la réalité onfrayenne et en tire un bilan sans appel qui détricote le mythe. (shrink)

Si l’exigence de cohérence, entendue comme non-contradiction, semble traverser les domaines et être entendue aussi bien dans le champ théorique que dans la pratique, il n’en demeure pas moins que le passage de l’un à l’autre peut induire des distorsions sur lesquelles nous trouvons, dans la pensée pratique et appliquée de Jonathan Glover, des indications précieuses. Cela amène à reconsidérer le concept de décision au regard de celui de ligne de conduite et à interroger les liens qu’entretient la personnalité (...) de l’agent moral avec les actions qui sont les siennes. Ce parcours critique prend son sens à travers la confrontation entre les exigences éthiques kantiennes et les questions de Tolstoï dans Anna Karénine, que nous envisagerons ici en tenant compte de l’absence de solution de continuité, du moins pour Jonathan Glover, entre philosophie et littérature. (shrink)

This article examines the factors that influence the propensity of corporations to engage with NGOs. Drawing from resource dependency theory and related theories of social networks and the resource-based view of the firm, the authors develop a series of hypotheses that draw from this conceptual foundation to predict a range of factors that influence firms to collaborate with NGOs. These factors include the level of commitment of the firm to CSR, the strategic fit between the firm’s and the NGO’s resources, (...) the level of trust the firm has in NGOs, the frequency of contact with NGOs, prior level and perception of experience with NGOs, and the level of pressure exerted by NGOs. The authors report on results of a survey of the Top 500 firms in the Netherlands on their interactions with NGOs, finding general support for our hypotheses, and suggest that understanding the motives for firm–NGO interactions can teach us more about firms’ corporate social activities and the way such activities are shaped in the dynamic interplay between firms and their stakeholders. Our findings are relevant for future research on cross-sectoral interactions, for corporations considering future relationships with NGO cohorts, and for broader questions about the role of stakeholders and the role of business in society. (shrink)

Examines the complex thirteenth-century poem Roman de la rose in the light of the philosophical ideas of its time and shows the range and scope of the poem's dialogue with pressing philosophical questions at the time it was written.

The thirteenth-century allegorical dream vision, the Roman de la Rose, transformed how medieval literary texts engaged with philosophical ideas. Written in Old French, its influence dominated French, English and Italian literature for the next two centuries, serving in particular as a model for Chaucer and Dante. Jean de Meun's section of this extensive, complex and dazzling work is notable for its sophisticated responses to a whole host of contemporary philosophical debates. This collection brings together literary scholars and historians of philosophy (...) to produce the most thorough, interdisciplinary study to date of how the Rose uses poetry to articulate philosophical problems and positions. This wide-ranging collection demonstrates the importance of the poem for medieval intellectual history and offers new insights into the philosophical potential both of the Rose specifically and of medieval poetry as a whole. (shrink)

En este trabajo pretendemos abordar la teoría del Intuicionismo social, realizada por el psicólogo Jonathan Haidt en oposición al modelo racionalista de Piaget y Kohlberg. Analizaremos sus elementos principales y especialmente sus implicaciones normativas. En particular nos centraremos en su conocida teoría del «desconcierto moral» con la que pretende mostrar la desconexión existente entre el juicio moral y la reflexión como dos procesos independientes.

Le raddoppiamento fonosintattico (RF) induit par l’accent est un processus de sandhi externe qui consiste, dans une séquence [mot1+mot2], à redoubler la consonne initiale du second lorsque la voyelle finale du premier est tonique (ex. : città ppulita vs casa pulita), cf. Loporcaro (1997a), Absalom & Hajek (1998). Ce processus est connu surtout en toscan Chierchia (1986). Ce résumé corrèle le RF induit par l’accent avec un autre phénomène qui, de prime abord, n’entretient aucun rapport avec lui : la réduction (...) à schwa des voyelles atones que l’on observe dans certains dialectes italiens. L’objectif de cet article est de montrer, par la diatopie, que les deux sont incompatibles, i.e. qu’aucun système ne peut les combiner. (shrink)

Resumen El presente artículo realiza un análisis de los apoyos otorgados por los cárteles de narcotráfico en México, desde la lectura del aparato crítico de Slavoj Žižek, quien sienta las bases para la interpretación de la ayuda humanitaria como un acto violento. Por lo que, el siguiente texto abarca desde la filosofía Žižekianay el psicoanálisis lacaniano, el fenómeno de la violencia ejercida por la figura del comunista liberal, en un comparativo con el crimen organizado mexicano, intentando desentrañar la estructura básica (...) de la dinámica social que impera en la ayuda humanitaria. Así mismo se define la violencia en general y algunas de sus manifestaciones en la sociedad; estableciendo los elementos esenciales de una ideología, distinguiéndola como una herramienta adecuada para el análisis social, esperado así, resolver cómo se constituye en realidad. Palabras clave: Violencia, sistémica, ayuda humanitaria, goce, realidad.This article presents the analysis of the aid provided by drug trafficking cartels in Mexico. It arises from a critical reading of Slavoj Žižek’s work regarding violence and ideology which lays the foundation for the interpretation of humanitarian aid as a violent act. Hence, the coverage of the article from Žižekian philosophy and Lacanian psychoanalysis, the phenomenon of violence exerted by the figure of the liberal communist, in comparison to Mexican organized crime, trying to unravel the basic structure of social dynamics which prevail in humanitarian aid. Likewise, violence in general and some of its manifestations in society are defined; establishing the essential elements of an ideology, distinguishing it as a suitable tool for social analysis, thus expected, solving how it is actually constituted. Key words: Violence, systemic, humanitarian aid, enjoyment, reality. (shrink)

This paper examines the intricate relationship between De Senectute and the Second Philippic, arguing that De Senectute is an important lens through which to read the Second Philippic. When Cicero decided on irrevocable opposition to Antony, the moral and political theorizing about the role of senes (literally, ‘old men/elders’) in the state found in De Senectute provided a convenient and topical framework for synthesizing the invective of the Second Philippic. A close reading of De Senectute with the Second Philippic demonstrates (...) that the philosophical thinking of De Senectute informed Cicero’s political persona in the Second Philippic and establishes the Second Philippic as the intellectual successor to De Senectute. (shrink)